Changing Scene

Phoenix Contact and Rittal Systems Ltd. have each been recognized as one of this year’s 10 Best Workplaces in Canada for Manufacturing. The two firms received this honour after an independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work, an international authority on building, sustaining, and recognizing high-trust, high-performing workplace cultures.

Phoenix Contact and Rittal Systems Ltd. have each been recognized as one of this year’s 10 Best Workplaces in Canada for Manufacturing. The two firms received this honour after an independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work, an international authority on building, sustaining, and recognizing high-trust, high-performing workplace cultures.The list of the 10 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations surveyed by Great Place to Work.

Tim Rourke, President, Rittal Systems Ltd., gives credit for the award to Rittal employees. “This great honour of being declared as a Great Place to Work in Canada, and now on the list of the Top Ten Manufacturers in Canada, is only possible because of the hard work and commitment from every person on the Rittal team, and it is truly amazing what can be accomplished when everyone is working together towards the common objective of customer excellence.

”According to Great Place to Work, a great workplace is about the level of trust that employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they enjoy their colleagues.

Rankings are based on 30 years of research and data collected through a trust index survey, which is taken annually by millions of employees worldwide. The model that forms the basis of the survey consists of these five dimensions:

•respect — employees feel respected by management; assesses employees’ perceptions of professional support, collaboration and involvement in decisions, and the level of care management shows for employees as people

On a regular basis, our publications profile members of our industry through their responses to a Q&A. It’s a way of recognizing industry movers and shakers, and helping our readers get to know them better.

Recently we launched an initiative with Electro-Federation Canada's Young Professionals Network to include profiles of up-and-coming leaders. We provided the list of questions below to Taylor Gerrie, Automation Account Specialist at Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. in Burlington, Ontario. Here are Taylor’s responses.

First and foremost, sitting down with Susan Uthayakumar feels more like sitting down and conversing with a friend than conducting an interview with the Canadian president of one of the world’s largest electrical manufacturers. Of course, she exudes the confidence and knowledge her position demands, but equally identifiable are an open and engaging nature.

In a recent sit-down, we learned a little about Susan’s history and what drives her to succeed.

To begin, Susan was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Canada at a young age. She went to high school in Canada and attended the University of Waterloo where she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Upon completing university Susan began her working career with Deloitte, which she describes as a great starting point as she was surrounded by highly driven and intelligent individuals. She welcomed being in a position that was demanding and helped nurture a strong work ethic. Her work with Deloitte also instilled a great interest in acquisitions, which would serve her well as her career unfolded.

We often learn how to look forward by first looking back, or at the very least we realize that despite our best efforts we have not truly advanced quite so much as we had thought. Sure, technology is rapidly advancing. That’s beyond question. But what about our approach to selling it? Have we changed that much in the last 20, 40, 60 years? Inevitably there have been advances and changes in marketing, the Internet causing the biggest shift, but many of the concerns and directives that have driven the distribution and marketing of industrial electrical products remain, or at least planted the roots of the concerns of manufacturers and distributors today.

To gain perspective of the perceptions and directions of electrical product distribution in 1960, we turn to Edwin H. Lewis. In 1960 Lewis published “The Distribution of Industrial Electrical Products” in the Journal of Marketing.

To fully define electrical product distribution in 1960, Lewis broke his study into several categories. We will follow his direction and provide his insights on the industry in each of the categories he identified.

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